Discussion Metagame After Rotation

DowntownBulbasaurBrown

DowntownBulbasaurBrown

Aspiring Trainer
Member
Let's play a little game here and assume that XY through Phantom Forces gets rotated out with the upcoming Steam Siege expansion. I wanted to start a conversation about what decks will be viable in the competitive meta game. These are the decks I can see staying competitive:

- Serperior
- Zygarde EX/ Regirock EX/ Carbink Break
- Mega Alakazam EX
- Yveltal variations
- Jolteon EX variations

There are quite a few others that I have not posted here. Let's list some and make a case for them.
 
Last edited:
Dude, I just started here and we have beef already!?

Just kidding. :)
Anyway, I'm not too great at explaining the viability of decks in the meta; like why they would be good. But I will certainly try and if anyone has any other points, they are welcomed here.

1. The Serperior standard deck is an up-and-comer that is seeing more and more play since Fates Collide came out. If being a brand new deck, it's easy to see how someone might make a case for it to be sticking around. This deck, as well as most other decks, will be hurt by the loss of Battle Compressor (assuming it doesn't see a reprint), but alas, life goes on.

2. Strong Fight deck. Just like Serperior, this deck is brand new and it is already seeing tons of play. The loss of Korrina will be a detriment here but I believe this deck has enough stability that even losing amazing support like that, the combination of Zygarde/Regirock/Carbink is still too legit to quit. (Sorry)

3. M Alakazam EX. Once again, this is a brand new card that everyone was talking about even before it came out. Even if bats rotates out and does not see a reprint, it still has staying power on its own. The fact that you really don't actually need any other Pokemon besides Alakazam EX and it's mega form in a deck for it to compete (aside from Shaymin EX I suppose) is remarkable. But of course, you will still have help with Pokemon like Hoopa EX and Wobbuffett.

4. Yveltal has obviously been reprinted in Generations, and its EX counterpart has also just been reprinted in a new shiny skin. YZG is yet another deck that will be taking a huge blow by losing Battle Compressor (again, this is assuming that it rotates out and doesn't get reprinted) because the whole Maxie strategy is basically kaput. But I have been testing other "YZ" variations and still see success. I have even been seeing a few different Yveltal/Darkrai lists lately that have been working.

5. Ok, I'm not even sure of all the different Jolteon EX variants that are out there, but I think it's plentiful. XY11 will have a new Klefki card that looks fun to combine with Jolteon. But I'm not saying that will see success in any way. If XY base through Phantom Forces are rotating away (again, this is only speculation on my part), then Manectric EX will be going with it. But Jolteon still has some of its friends in Regice, Vileplume, and others who escape me at the moment.
 
How about some Mega-Ray? I don't think many decks like when a 220 HP monster is swinging for 240 damage T2...

Also, Mega-Sceptile. It blocks ability effects (Slowking, Greninja-Break, Mega-Alakazam) and can keep pace with most of the rest of the meta. It also hits Zygarde for weakness.
 
Both are great points. I can't help but wonder if Mega Sceptiles is going to see increased play now considering Zygarde is seeing more and more play. Grass is becoming a decent sleeper considering all the positive matchups it has at the moment. Like Greninja and Zygarde, as y'all have said. Both of those decks are seeing tons of action in my area right now so Sceptile might be a sneaky little gambit that I may try. I would try Serperior instead but that deck is also becoming extremely popular around here and I wanted to go with something different.
 
Also, I've been coming across a bunch of different variations of Ariados with the new Toxicroak on the horizon. Hopefully Flashfire rotates out or those two cards combined with Dragalge from Flashfire would be way too lethal in standard. At least that's how it looks from the outside.
 
Personally I think Jolteon may be too good for the format. If there is a way to throw in a Giratina here or there it could beat M Sceptile
 
DowntownBulbasaurBrown said:
Also, I've been coming across a bunch of different variations of Ariados with the new Toxicroak on the horizon. Hopefully Flashfire rotates out or those two cards combined with Dragalge from Flashfire would be way too lethal in standard. At least that's how it looks from the outside.
Click to expand...
Having no way to poison opposing Pokemon between turns means Toxicroak is VERY vulnerable to being revenge-killed, which is a problem for something that has to evolve and takes multiple Energy attachments to attack. It's also stopped cold by Zoroark, anything with free Retreat, Garbodor, and opposing Grass decks. As much as I hate to say it (I heavily dig the idea behind this new Toxicroak, and it's a cool Pokemon in general), we probably won't be seeing this except as a 1-1 stalling option in Machamp-EX/Ariados decks.
 
I'm assuming a PC on rotation.

Serperior should still be good. It doesn't lose anything essential except for Muscle Band (which could still be reprinted).

Fighting decks should be fine too. It loses a lot of good stuff (Korrina being the biggest loss), but it keeps the essentials. The best thing going for this (and a lot of other decks) is the rotation of Item Lock Trevenant. They can't steal an easy win by Lysandering up Regi.

Alakazam might suffer here. With PHF rotated, it could be adios Dimension Valley so no more one energy attacks. We also lose Super Scoop Up and AZ. While there's still Devo Spray for reusing Alakazams Damage ability, AZ and SSU were a lot more versatile since they could also provide free retreat and HP recovery.

Yveltal: It may have to shift gears some (Mainly finding better ways to get Gallade in the discard pile), but it should still be good and gets a new friend (Yveltal BREAK).

Jolteon: Since the format seems to be going back to big basics, I could see this being even better. Just watch out for Carbink BREAK and the upcoming Pokemon Ranger.
 
Latte1504 said:
Sycamore was reprinted, Battle Compressor is bad for the game, VS Seeker was reprinted, DCE was reprinted. Some of the only good cards are Manectric/M Manectric, Bronzong, and D Valley.
Click to expand...
Yes, But Bronzong BREAK will be dead unless we get reprints.
I am happy about Item Lock trevenant going away though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top